Before 2013, issuers were prohibited from using any means of general solicitation or advertising when raising capital in the private markets. The prohibition was perceived by many to be the single biggest impediment to raising capital privately, particularly since it foreclosed the use of perhaps the greatest capital raising tool ever created: the Internet.
That all changed in 2013 when the Securities and Exchange Commission created new Rule 506(c) under the JOBS Act of 2012, which allowed companies for the first time ever to seek investors through general solicitation and advertising without registering with the SEC, so long as they sold only to accredited investors and used reasonable methods to verify accredited investor status.
So what are reasonable methods of verification? It clearly involves something more than what would meet the “reasonable belief” standard for determining accredited investor status for purposes of the 35 non-accredited investor cap for Rule 506(b) offerings, which as a practical matter means self-attestation through an investor questionnaire. That would not fly under Rule 506(c)’s reasonable verification method standard.Continue Reading (Minimum Investment) Size Matters, When it Comes to Rule 506(c) Verification
investors in private investment funds. The proposed rules would require private fund advisers to disclose certain information and avoid certain practices. But these retail-like protections for private fund investors seem inconsistent with the long-held belief that such investors can fend for themselves. The proposed
debuts May 10 in which startups will pitch to a panel that includes Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and the panelists after grilling the entrepreneurs will make decisions on whether or not to invest, similar to Shark Tank. But unlike the couch potato viewers of Shark
Ripple Labs, Inc. and two of its executives alleging they offered and sold over $1.38 billion of digital asset XRP without registration or exemption in violation of Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933, seeking disgorgement of ill-gotten gains. Ripple filed an
off at school for spring semester. The first time around, he ended up returning home with me the next day for unexpected oral surgery to remove his wisdom teeth after completing his mandatory one-day COVID quarantine at school.